


Ceremonials

by shylo



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Blood Kink, Dubious Consent, Eventual Smut, F/M, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Choking, Force Sensitivity, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Inappropriate Use of the Force, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Romance, Seduction to the Dark Side, Slow Burn, Smut, Violence, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-19
Updated: 2018-04-13
Packaged: 2018-06-03 03:58:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6595768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shylo/pseuds/shylo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Last chapter -<i>"I already have one Force riddled <b>bitch </b>getting in my way. I do not need another."</i> </p><p>In fire is how it began.<br/>In fire is how it would end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Sword in the Sky

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone. I've written on a few sites before but this is my first ever post on here. Equal parts nervous and excited. I don't want to say too much about this story since I'm not really sure now where it's going yet but it should be a bumpy ride! I might change the rating and add tags (all the smut tags I can't be bothered to write out at the mo) accordingly but I'll let people know when I do. Enjoy x

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _And I heard your voice, as clear as day_

 

She would never forget the day the sky split in two.

 

Hanephi Att sat cross-legged on the terrace, a squirming child in her lap. Her sister, Voba, lay reclined on a white sun sofa beside them, choosing to ignore the quarrelling pair in favour of scrolling through her holopad. Once again, Hanephi attempted to wrangle the little beast into her arms, but to no avail.

“Lupai,” she hissed, through gritted teeth, “If you sit still and let me finish this braid, I will let you eat a _whole_ stack of flatcakes later, okay?”

“Nephi, you know that doesn't work on her any more.”

She looked up to see the grinning face of her elder brother, Galatan, entering the room from a door at her right, his robes a deep green and speckled with dust. Nephi did not let his words deter her and resumed wrestling with her youngest sibling, who was as determined to escape as she was to keep her captive. The snub nosed, brown little girl whined and kicked out her feet, limbs flailing as if there were eight of them and not simply two. Hanephi, long, lean, features no longer as girlish as they used to be, was losing.

“They've been at it for a good quarter hour now,” Voba sighed, her fingers idling tapping a message on the screen. She still did not bother to look up. Galatan looked on instead, the mild amusement in his eyes occasionally bursting out in a chuckle or a laugh when one of Lupai’s struggling hands or feet made contact with Hanephi’s face or side. Still, she grimaced through it for another few minutes until the little girl went suddenly still in her arms.

“Ah-ha! I told you I could get her to-” The triumph in her voice went silent as her eyes met her brother’s face. He was gazing off at something in the opposite direction. What startled her was his expression. The wide eyed, opened mouth look of shock, of horror. She did not understand what was wrong with him, when he had been smiling only moments before.

Her mind did not register why the light of a clear summer day on their planet Isan was suddenly seeped in red. Her whole existence was abruptly submerged in a suffocating sense of terror. As if in a trance, she turned her head slowly, to the balcony view and gasped. The radio static filling her brain turned into a singular piercing emotion, as clear as a high pitched sound. Dread.

A bolt of pure, red light was tunnelling though the sky. It wasn't like the playful, streak of a shooting star, or the sparking dance of meteors colliding into the atmosphere. No. What Nephi saw was the slow, heavy path of a flame, burning through space, though the dark of the galaxy, to spread fire. She, and her three siblings, sat unmoving, turned to statues in shock. Their world was so silent; it was as if all of Isan had frozen with them, the only thing moving was the path of the sword slicing through the sky. The glimmering point of the beam suddenly branched, its tendrils reaching out in the firmament. Each finger ended suddenly in a faraway burst of light.

A thought, as quiet and unintelligible as a far-away voice, whispered in her head. _Hosnian Prime._

The silence was suddenly shattered as Voba’s holopad clattered to the floor.

 

* * *

 

“Children?” In a flurry of dark skin and red-orange fabrics, Endorina Att, the mother of the Att siblings, entered the room, halting at the scene before her.

“So you have all seen it?” Her voice was low, careful, face harrowed. “Your father has called a council meeting of the highest urgency. We must go to him now. Lupai, you will go to your room and wait for your nurse.”

They all nodded stiffly in response, still stunned, not quite certain they had seen what they had seen. The graceful woman turned her head about several times, her long, still shiny, still very black hair swishing with the movement. She scanned her eyes over her children, brows furrowing when she realized one was missing.

“Where is Raphine?”

Nephi’s head lifted. She had assumed that Raphine, her sister, her _twin_ sister, would be where she had left her two hours before, beside her mother in the Senate office, the two of them arguing on about books and old manuscripts she herself could not be bothered to read, as they often did.

“We thought she was still with you,” Galatan answered, eyes still trained on the horizon, lingering there.

Nephi sighed as she took one last look at the fading glimmers where the seat of the Republic once stood and turned away. “I know where she’ll be. I’ll get her. We will meet you in the council chambers.”

Putting Lupai to her feet, Hanephi stood and quickly left to find her sister. She did not know how she knew where she was but she did. She always knew, as did Raphine with her, the two sisters bound together by a hyper awareness, like an invisible thread. Concentrating, she sought out her sister’s presence and like moving her hand toward a flame, found the flicker of warmth that would lead her to her sister.

After what felt like hours, in what was possibly barely a few minutes, she finally reached her destination. The heavy brass doors of their small library were silent as she tugged them open. Nephi headed straight through to the archives, past rows and rows of bookshelves filled with old, withered rolls of parchment and blueprint paper to a single alcove window, the only one like it in the whole room. The whole building, she was sure. There, beneath a pile of white and grey bantha fur blankets, she found her sister.

But something was wrong.

Raphine lay consumed in darkness, her chest constricted by an unknown force. The dream she had found herself lost in was hazed in scarlet, the ruby sky above her rolling and broiling in waves, the terracotta dirt where she lay caking into her fingers as she scrabbled to get a hold on herself, on anything. She tried to scream, the sound scarring her throat raw. The heat was suffocating in its intensity. _This is the end_. A black shadow stood before her, bathed in the crimson of the world. _Raphine._ She reached out to the distorted voice of her distorted vision, pleading for salvation as her body burned and burned from the inside out. Light burst in her eyes, ears ringing with the crackling hum of a weapon she did not recognize. It was red. It was all red.

_Raphine!_

_Please!_

“Raphine!”

Returning to the present was like being doused in freezing cold water. She coughed and spluttered to life, kicking off the stifling layers that entangled her limbs. She was still panting for breath as she realized her sister stood above her, the familiar features altered by panic and concern. “Raphe! Are you alright?”

Numbly, she nodded, her mind still returning to her body. It wasn’t the first time she had had that vision. But the vividness of it… This time, she could still almost taste the sand in her mouth. Feel the poker hot burn in her stomach. It had never been so clear, the shapeless shadows now vivid, looming fears. Raphine wasn’t given much time to think on what she had seen, Nephi already jerking her to her feet. “We have to go. There’s something wrong.”


	2. Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _A revelation in the light of day_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My second chapter up in less than an hour. (I actually should be doing an essay right now but.... alas.)

 

Despite being twins, the two young women had very little in common. Hanephi, the younger by 16 standard minutes, was soft spoken and soft curved, and stood tall but Raphine was even taller, thin as a reed, and lean. She was colder too, constantly as wound as a snake ready to strike. With her furrowed brows and unsmiling wide lips, Raphine was the icy Hoth to her sister’s summery Dantooine. Even her skin was a cool clay to Nephi’s warmer, red-brown tone. The twins did however, share a few traits. They had an almost identical nose, the same love of Corellian ryshcates and that uncanny ability some siblings had to share their feelings and thoughts with just a look to the other.

“The Hosnian system. It’s gone.” The silence between them was broken by Nephi’s interjection, her voice echoing in the great empty walkways.  “It might be a super weapon. Another Deathstar.”

Raphine did not reply but her thoughts became alert instantly. She was already trying to process the deeper meaning of this information. If there was another weapon, where was it? Could it strike again? Where they in danger? And most importantly _who_ was behind it?

Soon, they reached their journey's end. As she was leading the way, Nephi entered the grand senate room first, her eyes immediately landing on their father, who sat at the apex of the long, wide table in the middle of the room. Galhan Att, a frown on his golden, wrinkled face was completely silent. A surprise considering the ruckus of noise around them. The room was filled with the many lesser lords and ladies of Isan, all vying to be heard in the commotion.

“Listen to me. You can’t be serious!”

“We need to evacuate now!”

“Yes before they strike and wipe us out as they did Hosnian Prime!”

“And for what reason? We do not know who it was or if they are a threat to us!”

“We aren't even in line with Republic politics? What business of this is ours?”

Despite its size, the human population of their planet, Isan, was small, the majority of citizens occupying the megacity Tsisan in the northern hemisphere. The greater part of the planet was dense, muggy marshland but it was the brutal mountains, filled to the brink with galactic metals durasteel, and the even rarer thorilide, that was both the cause of concern and pride in Isan. The metals made the citizens of the planet wealthy, the droid run mining systems flooding credits into the nation. It also made them constantly under threat. A superweapon so close, in their own celestial backyard no less, was something to be feared. The sky was still tainted by the beam’s ghost. Hanephi and Raphine could see it from the wide window which spanned the length of the conference room, giving it a lingering eye as they took their seats.

The din continued for another hour and more as the people continued, the sound raising in volumes in time with the everyone’s collected fear. Nephi only had eyes for her father, the older gentlemen itching at his full salt and pepper beard while he looked down at his holopad, as if their world wasn't ending in discord around him. It was her mother, narrow and pointed like Raphine, which silenced them.

“Lords, ladies! We must gather yourselves! How long have we been here bickering without a plan? We cannot solve anything with panic. Aside from the tragedy that has befallen the Republic, we have no indication that this could happen again, or to us.” Her voice seemed to still the majority of the dissent but a few were still stiffened with apprehension.

“So what are we to do? Sit and wait until the threat is made clear? By then it could be too late!” yelled one of the older lords as he hopped to his feet, some of his cohort nodding in agreement.

With a sigh, Galatan rose from his place at the table, ever the mediator. “We shouldn't be afraid of ghosts. We have many skilled men and women trying to find out as much as possible about what happened. There’s no need to worry, not yet.”

“It seems the boy is right, everyone. There is indeed nothing to worry about.”

It was then everyone looked to the Senator of Isan, the first time he had spoken since the meeting began. Galatan slunk back into his seat, intrigued. Raphine, lips curling in annoyance, was not so accepting. “What do you mean? Do you know something we don’t?”

“I know who did it. And they mean us no harm.” Galhan, looking far older than his 53 galactic years, tossed the holopad he had been reading to the center of the wide table and it skidded a long way down. His hands formed a steeple at his mouth. The room was as silent as the dead, no one moving to touch the datapad first.

“I received a message from the First Order-” The response was immediate. Frantic whispers, bubbling up in pockets around the room. Even Hanephi tensed, icy prickles running down her spine. The First Order were dangerous; the wild, fanatic spawn of the Galactic Empire that had been steadily expanding deep in the Outer Rim. She did not understand why her _father_ , of all people, had been on the receiving end of one of their messages. He raised a hand to silence the din before he continued.

“They have claimed responsibility for the destruction of the system and have declared the end of the Republic as we know it. Given our… relationship… with the Order, they claim they wish us no harm. They also plan to act against the Resistance base momentarily.”

“The _Resistance_ base?” gasped a dark woman bundled up in dark furs.

“Wait… a _relationship_? What _relationship_?” Endorina hissed, her dusky face contorted in anger. Raphine took that moment to reach forward to claim the holo, eyes quickly scanning over the screen. In that moment, with both of their faces inflamed with a silent fury, could someone have claimed that _they_ were the twins.

Galhan pressed a finger to his temple, rolling it over the pulse point, as if the action could sooth the rising pressure beneath. Tiredness showing in his face, he raised his eyes to his wife. “The metals, the mine. Who do you think has been buying it all? With the rising conflict, fewer buyers have sought to venture to our side of the galaxy. Less and less Isani durasteel was being bought. For a while, we could not even sell much thorilide. The Order came to us, offering to buy a steady supply at an increased price. I made the call and said yes.”

“You said _yes_?” Everyone looked at him in silence, Nephi noting the few that did not, their eyes cast down with the guilt of an accomplice.

His irritation finally shown through. “Gods, woman! The planet was leaking credits! People would have starved, died in their own homes! How could I not agree?”

Slamming her hands on the table with a force Nephi was sure put a crack in the holopad, Raphine got to her feet. “Well father! _That_ is the product of your agreement!”

Everyone followed the direction of her slim fingered hand to the slowly fading glow in the atmosphere, a cosmic bruise. Nephi had to agree, her volatile, angry sister was right. Their father had unknowingly attached them to the First Order. They were now in leagues with the destroyers of a whole planetary _system_. Her stomach swooped, dipped and churned, the nausea boiling to burst.

The tension in the room grew before a shriek emitted from Voba. Nephi had not noticed her older sibling before then, as she sat at the far end of the table, close to her father. Her were eyes going wider and whiter, startling in her honey coloured face as her hand beckoned outwards. Everyone turned quickly, some even getting to their feet to see better.

In the far distance, a pinprick of light was steadily expanding and it took a moment for everyone to realize that it was an explosion, from the source of the beam of light. They could assume it was the cause of the Resistance but until their forces could send back information, anything was possible. The thirty various men and women watched in a pensive silence as the weapon was supposedly vanishing.

“Well that’s the end of that,” Galatan muttered, retying the sash of his robe before he turned to leave the room.

As if she had been called, Nephi looked up and immediately locked eyes with her twin sister, eyes that were also the same deep, unfathomable brown. They could feel it, in the prickly sharpness of the air, in the golden glow of the dying weapon planet, that things were not going to be that easy.

  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... guess who will be entering in the next chapter...  
> If you were thinking of on tall, heavily robed, helmeted ball of angst then... you'd be right.


	3. A Haunting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Came to weeping (came to weeping)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who?

 

Kylo Ren was exhausted.

The pain he felt pulsing through his body was excruciating, unlike anything he had ever felt before. The gaping maw that sliced through his brow, down his jaw and lower in a slash from neck to shoulder was constantly aflame. However, it was the wound in his side that ached the most deeply, making his eyes water as he moved, the stitches shuffling with every breath.

He had spent the last half hour attempting to meditate in the force to accelerate his healing but his concentration waned. His body was broken, yes, but nothing compared to the blackness in his chest; his heartache, his grief, both overwhelming. How could he be so numb and so filled with emotion all at once? Hollow and yet full to the point of suffocation? He did not know if it was light or dark. He could not tell.

The small medical staff Hux was able to wrangle on to the frigate ship they had fled on had tried their best with him the last several hours. In between resetting his ribs and re-stitching his wounds, pumping him full of numbing drugs and blood, and pretending they weren't all staring at his uncovered face, they spoke of getting him to an available bacta tank. Kylo wasn't very optimistic though. He knew the possibility was unlikely. Hux had advised against them returning to the Finalizer in case the Resistance decided to launch another attack while their forces were disordered. So instead, he lay in agony, fighting to use a force ability he had always found difficult when could not concentrate, and now, with the image of his father’s face springing forward every time he closed his eyes, it was near impossible.

He realized, lying on the gurney in the old ship’s makeshift medical bay, he had missed that face. His father’s was a face he had not seen for so long, a face he had even begun to forget, the image disintegrating like sand into fragmented images. Even when he was a boy, it was one he did not see often, a patchwork father made of _See you later, kid’_ s, missed then belated birthdays and, static and apology filled holocoms. In fact, his father missed his birthday so often, even  _he_ could not be sure when it was. More visions of a back in the distance, of furrowed brows in profile, the uncomfortable smile he had when Kylo Ren had used the force when he was around. The forever perturbed face of Han Solo. The one Kylo saw was now older, sadder. But it didn't matter now.

Not now that the man was dead.

Kylo lifted a hand to his cheek, and closed his eyes. If he avoided his scar, he could almost pretend to feel his father’s touch again. His father used to do that before he left to board his ship, the Millennium Falcon, before he left him and his mother behind. And then, in the depths of the Starkiller, it was Han’s turn to beg him to come home.

Ben Solo was supposed to be dead.

But it seems his father’s voice had awakened a ghost that swam in his chest, shifting his innards, pushing out at his ribcage. He waited until he was left alone before he wept.

Ben Solo was mourning, a dead man crying over a dead man.

_It’s too late._

_No, it's not. Leave here with me. Come home. We miss you._

His father was right. At that moment, standing there, prodigal father and deserted son, it was not too late. But then the saber was in his hand, then in their hands, and suddenly it was. He finally made a choice. Chose a father, killed the other, chose a home. The only one Kylo Ren had ever known.

It was all too late.

 

* * *

 

It had been five days of nothing. The disguised ship had been avoiding possible Resistance fighter ships, the few Republic forces out looking for them and unknown territories for ages now. Both Kylo and Hux had agreed it would be better not to approach any known affiliations in case the Resistance got word. They had planned to go immediately to Snoke but with Kylo in his current state, even with his force healing, they could not risk it. Not to mention, with both the Resistance and the Republic combing the galaxy for traces of them, they did not wish to risk exposing the location of their Supreme Leader. And so, they waited, Kylo Ren alternating between being awake and in pain or in a heavy, drug induced sleep.

When he was asleep, he dreamt of the sun.

It was not long before Kylo Ren was permitted to leave the medbay. His wounds were still atrocious but after a nurse and two Stormtroopers and both been admitted alongside him after he gave out a particularly strong force push in annoyance, the lead doctor was too afraid to keep saying no. That afternoon, he took his first uneasy steps and dressed himself in some spare robes in black and dark grey, mismatched in color, but comfortable and a sensible fit. He slipped on a black lower face mask, Kylo not used to having his face so openly exposed. His metal mask was lost during the destruction of Starkiller base and until he had means to replace it, the fabric mask would have to do. Sometimes he wondered what the doctors, nurses and other tourists to his pain could see when they saw his face. Was it Kylo Ren, their unmerciful commander? Or was it an impostor, the youth of him noticeable in his mother’s eyes, his father’s nose and ears he could never grow into? The face of a resistance.

With a deep breath, he joined Hux in the bridge, as officers bustled around them. He noted they all seemed to move with an increased purpose, the excited tone of their energies shifting a little towards apprehension as he enter the room.

“Have we set a destination?”

The cold, blue eyed General lifted a ginger brow in his direction, his only comment as to why Kylo was not currently still resting in medbay. “Yes. We have.”

“And?” Kylo hissed, turning to glare at the man beside him.

“Come.”

Not waiting for a response, Hux stalked off into the main corridor leaving Kylo with no choice to follow. He led him to some sort of a map room, a holo of the galaxy illuminated before them. Picking up a pointer stick, the general began.

“So the location of the StarKiller was base was here,” the slender man indicated, pointing to a spot in the unknown regions that Kylo was already familiar with. “As of today, we are now here.”

The space Hux had signified was in the middle of almost nowhere, the ship already past Rakata Prime but still worrying headed in the direction of the rebels. He didn’t understand what Hux was doing or where he was leading them too. “Why didn't we go east? The First Order has many supporters in Ilthor. We could have reorganised there.”

“Negative. We certainly could not go in that direction. Too many spare Republic forces from Yavin and Dantooine clustered in the area. It was better to go south. And besides, amongst those hammerheaded Ilthorian’s we would have stuck out too obviously.”

“So then what? If we’re going south, we might as well head straight to D’Qar to hand ourselves into the rebels. We’re a hair’s breath away from Jakku as it is.”

He could see Hux visibly bristle. Kylo was right. Although their ship had not entered the Mid Rim, they were skimming very close, already in the direction of the Western Reaches. “I am _aware_ of that Ren. We’re heading here.”

Kylo squinted, trying to see where he was pointing and frowned when he did. “Isan? Why?”

“It’s prefect. Large planet, a surprisingly low population, no affiliations with the Republic _or_ the Resistance. They traded with us for durasteel before too and very willingly. With the metals and the natural materials, it’s an excellent location to rebuild. It could even be the Order’s future seat of power.” Kylo Ren resisted the urge to roll back his eyes as the general enthused. It made sense but the whole thing was still impractical.

“So what are we doing Hux? Ransoming the whole planet? They aren't First order  _either.”_

“Well what other choice do we have? The planet is in a far dire financial state than it appears. We could easily force their compliance in a way that all would benefit. And, it is even _more_ beneficial to us that they are not seen as a possible ally. Besides,” the general began, his voice turning a little darker, “All will bow to the First Order eventually.”

For some reason, the menace in his voice made Kylo's injuries twinge. He had been on his feet for too long and his body was beginning to protest. He was familiar with Isan.  One sun, two moons, warm weather. Relatively prosperous, supposedly as beautiful as Naboo but with a harsher edge to it. Maybe the planet would do him good?

In the blue glow of the map light, Kylo noticed Hux’s face was unshaven and his uniform was not as crisp as he usually wore it. The general was staring at the tiny round blip that was Isan with hard resolution. He did not need the force to sense the exhaustion rolling off the man. It seemed Isan would be a relief for him too.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope you guys like my Kylo Ren/Ben Solo. I feel like I've written him way different to how he's usually portrayed but I really want to develop his relationship to his grief and what happened with his father here. I wanted to give him more of, I dunno, humanity? I guess?


	4. Collision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _See I've come to burn your kingdom down_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I'm so sorry it's been so long. I was down in somewhat of a "depression session" and couldn't write for aeons. But I'm better now, so I'm back.
> 
> And finally, they meet.

“You lie!”

Raphine’s sandstone fist smashed into her father’s desk, his stationary making a sharp clack in response. The old man, used to her outbursts, did not so much as flinch. Her siblings on the other hand, were all startled at the sound. Hanephi looked up to catch the eyes of her older siblings who both unceremoniously chose to ignore her: Voba was suddenly interested in the gilding of the walls, and her elder brother was now looking down at his feet.

“There will be no more discussion on this. There is nothing I can do,” their father sighed, gently nudging the objects on the large wooden table back to where they had jumped out of place.

“Nothing you can _do_? You mean to say these… these _murderers,_ mean to come to our home, defile our temples with their presence and there is nothing you can _do_?”

A message came through on the subspace transreceiver only a while ago. Galhan had played them the com-note. The cool, unhurried voice of a General Amitage Hux had addressed their father and the other notable members of the Isani government to inform them of their imminent arrival. The First Order was coming to Isan, at least, what was left of the First Order. They would arrive early evening, in 3 standard hours. They were closer than anyone had expected, given the fact no one in the galaxy had even heard from the Order at all in the seven days since the destruction of the Hosnian system. Truthfully, they all had hoped the end of the Starkiller base was the end of them. But hope and reality were two different things. 

“Hanraphinette…” he hissed, voice low in a warning. Even Raphine, usually defiant, curdled at the use of her full name. “I will not repeat myself. We will treat our guests will the hospitality and courtesy that Isan is known for until they leave.”

“Will they?” Everyone looked to the only male Att child who spoke so softly it was a wonder they had heard him at all.

“Will they what Galatan?” Voba sighed. She didn’t know how to feel about everything either. As far as she knew, if not for the financial support of the First Order, their planet would have gotten as bad as one of the dirt dumps in the Outer Rims. They so called “Resistance” had not sought to help their planet like that.

“Will... they leave?” At that, the muscle in Raphine’s jaw jumped and tensed, her eyes shiny with all the anger and frustration she was trying to hold in. The seated man did not answer. Truthfully, he did not know. She left in silence, followed soon after by her brother and eldest sister, leaving Hanephi and her father behind. Galhan sighed, scratching at his full beard, at a loss for what to do.

“Nephi, my sweet child.”

The woman inched closer to his desk, perching on the edge. “Yes papa?”

“You must watch your sister closely for me. Keep her in check. I cannot control her, no more than I can those of the First Order. Look after her? Her temper has a mind of its own.” Nephi nodded in response, fiddling with the edge of her robe. Her family was about to enter dangerous times and she did not know how to stop it. For the first time she could remember, she was truly afraid. They had to be careful.

Extremely so.

 

* * *

 

 

The heat was astonishing, heavy and wet, like a blanket coating the atmosphere. At the back of Ren’s mind, he was using the force to regulate his body temperature to stave off the worst of it. His large, hooded cloak also help shield him from the sun. The General, on the other hand, was not so lucky. Rivulets of sweat glinted off his forehead and into the collar of his suit. The populated areas of Isan were somewhat climate controlled, however, the vast spiralling marshland that they had landed in was kept wild and unmanaged. Hux had decided it was best to land away from the central city, in case the Isani’s had somehow mobilised an army, despite how unlikely. And so they walked, Stormtroopers ahead and Stormtroopers behind, hacking though the dense foliage for what seemed like miles. Kylo Ren distracted himself by looking through the forest, reaching out with the Force to feel at the earth, the hum of the air, the sigh of the trees. The planet had seen little conflict, almost completely untouched by the Galactic Wars. Even the Clones Wars, which had spiralled into all the crevasses of the galaxy had not reached Isan. It was one of the few nations that had not felt the need to engage in the conflicts of the galaxy. And now they were hosting the First Order, albeit reluctantly.

Hux had gotten in contact with both the Supreme Leader Snoke and Captain Phasma. Snoke had approved of their move to recoup on Isan. He had commanded them to wait at least until Phasma had arrived with more troops before they could do anything else. The Order had fractured following the destruction of the Starkiller base and the Captain was somewhere in the Outer Reaches collecting together what was left of their command. Until then, they were to wait. Ren had yet to speak to the Supreme Leader himself. He was still unsure of the ground he was walking on, unsure of himself. He knew Snoke would be able to sense that within him. Despite all he had done… The Supreme Leader would call on him soon. He needed to be prepared for when it happened.

While in his haze, Kylo was surprised the moment they broke through the trees and entered the, only fractionally, cooler Isani capital, Tsisan. A small carrier awaited them at the edge of the jungle. This was their transport to the main square and to their host’s seat of power. Gritted his teeth, he willed himself to be ready.

 

* * *

 

 

The Att siblings, save Lupai, their youngest, were all present in the Great Hall, when the First Order finally arrived. They stood together in one of the balconies which overlooked the High Throne where their father sat, their mother standing tall beside him. Many of their nation's officials had also arrived, curious to see the faces of their occupiers. Voba drank liquor from a small flask as if in mourning as they began to march in. She offered it to Galatan and Raphine, who both declined. Nephi, on the other hand, took a long, deep swig of the thick brandy. It burned her inside out but she knew she would need the courage.

Five officers of the First Order entered the grand Isani hall, flanked by a total of twelve of their Stormtroopers, shiny and white. None of the siblings had ever seen a Stormtrooper in person, their knowledge limited to history lessons and illustrative books. Nephi thought they looked silly. How would they camouflage themselves if they were dressed like that? In Isani marshland, one of these metal men would be seen a mile away.

“That must be the General. The one with the orange hair,” Galatan whispered. The man in question had stood at the front of the group and was being addressed by her father. He looked as if he was carved out of marble, slender and equally as stony. His normally pale skin, was shiny with perspiration, like the other officers, but also blotched red about his neck, cheeks and ears. This one was obviously not used to the climate.

“Look at him,” the eldest sister snorted, as the General shuffled uncomfortable in his uniform that was definitely too hot in the tropical Isani weather. “Do you think he is that pink all over?”

“Voba!” Hanephi gasped, trying hard to suppress her giggles.

Raphine was not so amused, as she stood souring behind them. “Both of you are disgusting.”

At the sounds they were making, the head of a hooded figure turned in their direction. Nephi noticed the movement and peered down at the darkly clothed figure, a giant in black, tattered robes. The contrast was startling in comparison to the crisp lines of the Order uniform. “Who is that one?”

 

* * *

 

Kylo Ren was aware of the many eyes on him, his frame and demeanour making it easy for him to stand out. As the General performed the necessary introductions, his gaze however, was drawn by the sounds of whispers and muffled laughter to the balconies. One man and three women stood watching them all from above. Of all the faces however, there was one in particular that caught his eye.

His eyes lingered over her. The curvaceous frame, with the long, languid limbs. Black ringlets pinned behind small ears above a slender neck. The full lips of her mouth were cut open in a grin, conspiring with the similar looking, slim beauty beside her. Sisters? Maybe? She remind him of autumn time in Lothal. Brown, rich, warm. 

He was so used to staring at people through his mask, behind the safety of anonymity, that when her eyes suddenly locked with his, he was startled. She could not see his face aside from his eyes, he knew that, but the feeling did not stop unnerving him. He idly reached out with the Force in her direction, curious about the soft crackle of energy he could sense coming off her. He was shocked then when he was shoved back and away from her. Immediately, Kylo Ren was furious and alert. In what was only a matter of seconds, he had unsheathed and lit his saber, causing the shocked gasps of all that were gathered. Hux swivelled to him in astonishment. Even the old man, leader of Isan, had leapt from his chair in protest.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Ren ignored him, eyes darting quickly about for the other Force user. It was an inexperienced hand but strong. He had had absolutely e-fucking-nough of those. Where in stars name had all of these wretches been holing up? Was every rock in the galaxy hiding away these scum?

In moments, he realised the source was behind the woman he was looking at before. The third female. Her face was a bitter sneer, defiant and enraged. Equal to his own. He could feel the hate coming off her in waves. Pointing a gloved hand up towards her, past the beautiful woman who he now cound sense was also her sister, a _twin for God's sake_ ….

“You.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if these seems drawn out. I'm just a big fan of the grand old exposition.


	5. Dangerous Creatures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Through the crowd I was crying out and_   
>  _In your place there were a thousand other faces_

“ _You_.”

His voice was a thunderous bellow which echoed about the hall. Hanephi felt the sound deep down to her toes and despite herself, for a moment, she was afraid. She was confused as his striking glare seemed to be directed at the balcony where her and her siblings sat.The eyes of the masked man were so brown they were almost black. And they looked so furious. And they weren't looking at her.

Hanephi could only stare, aghast, as Kylo Ren grasped out with his hand, using the Force to grab Raphine by the neck, dragging her from the balcony towards him. Screams and gasps alike sprang out in discord around the room. The old man rushed to him, guards swarming to surround him on either side. A force push shoved them back a few steps as Ren raised his saber in warning. It did not deter most of her father's armoured guards from aiming phasers at the disguised man. Ren’s attention, however, was completely focused on the sister struggling in his Force grasp before him.

“What in the great Hells do you think you’re doing?!” the great man, Galhan, roared. Although Galhan was tall and heavy set, it was obvious to all that Kylo Ren was even taller and far stronger. He lowered his lightsaber to his side, looming close. The guards which encircled them were poised, their weapons ready.

“Were you aware you have an untrained Force user in your midst?” he hissed. The voice was garbed slightly though the vocal distorter beneath the mesh of his fabric mask but still audible. Ren’s voice became even lower, his eyes shooting daggers into the leader. “People like her are dangerous.”

“I can see that,” the man spat, and for a moment Ren was impressed by his gall. The woman was still writhing in his clasp, kicking and scratching at the invisible hold he had on her neck. He wasn’t gripping her tightly. But he was tempted to.

“Master Ren,” General Hux hissed, his displeasure showing in the way he tensely ran a hand through his red locks, a muscle in his jaw twitching like a plucked bow string. The General knew the longer he allowed this spectacle to go on, the more likely someone could be gravely injured. The crowd was fever pitch around them and they had only just arrived on the planet. Figures. “Perhaps you can find it in you to let this woman in the company of our _host_ go?”

Galhan himself nodded in support, waving a hand which commanded the soldiers to step back slightly. With his armed guard uneasy and filled with tension, any minor action could trigger them to act, a risk the man was not willing to take with his daughter’s life involved.

Ren was faltering. Hux’s voice reminded him of the control he had meant to be having over his emotions and immediately the cool mask of Kylo Ren, Master of the Knights of Ren, fell over his eyes. “Perhaps _General_ , I could kill her, and spare our host the trouble of having her around.”

Many voices cried out in protest but it was only one he heard, the voice sharp as a knife in his head. He looked back up to the balcony, to the other sister. Ren could still feel the static of the force around her. He wished to delve into her thoughts but this was neither the time or the place. With all the people watching him, the vast number of thoughts flying around the room, Kylo Ren was suddenly claustrophobic, almost dizzy with the torrent of emotions flooding his senses. He released the girl from his grasp, the flood of relief he sensed from the sister alone was enough to make him feel nauseous.

“You kriffing beast!” Raphine made to leap at the cloaked Knight but by the sudden wave of her father’s hand, several guards held her back. She thrashed in their grasp, knocking down two with a skilled kick that even surprised both First Order leaders, and an expertly delivered jab to the throat. She had almost gotten free until four more renewed their efforts to hold her down.

“Your majesty,” Hux bellowed, raising his voice to get everyone’s attention. The noise of the small audience of people simmered to a lower murmur. The young woman however, who he now inferred was one of the Senator’s daughters, as if their luck was not terrible enough, was still fighting to be released. “I, most graciously apologize for the actions of my commander within your great Hall, however, Kylo Ren is correct in stating under the Command of the First Order, all Force-sensitive individuals must be documented. Even during the days of the Empire, persons with a higher than average midichlorian count were looked over to assess how dangerous they were.”

“Three things General. My daughter Raphine is not dangerous. Neither is she a Force-user. Furthermore, our nation Isan is not under the command of the First Order so those rules do not apply to us,” the older man scoffed, folding his large, heavily robed hands before him.

“Lord Galhan, I believe Master Ren is the most qualified of all of us to know if she is Force-sensitive or not, and he is _usually_ never wrong regarding these matters. What's more, I believe the two of your men clutching themselves on the floor can attest to how much of a _danger_ she is. Now your Majesty, of your last point, well… That's something I believe we need to discuss. A meeting at 1800 this evening would suffice.” With that, Hux smoothed out the front of his blazer, turned, and made his way out of the vast room, the Stormtroopers clunking along behind as they followed. Ren could not help but let his eyes scan the room once more, glaring when they fell upon the angry woman before him. He did not take another glance at the other one on the balcony.

* * *

 

“Where in stars name are you going now, you insufferable thug?!” Hux snarled, face reddening even more, if possible. He had walked out, fully prepared to unleash the full might of his anger on Kylo Ren to find the man already striding away from him.

“I need to speak to the Supreme Leader. He must be informed. I already have one Force riddled _bitch_ getting in my way. I do not need another.” Kylo began storming out of the Great Hall, beckoning to the two Stormtroopers that had been posted outside to follow. But before they had walked very far, Kylo turned on his heels, storming back to jab his fingers right in Hux’s face. “And get me a fucking visor.”

And so, he was gone.

* * *

 

“The Force, Raphe? You never told me.” Nephi was surprised the quiet little voice that just spoke was her own but she was surprised about a lot of things today.

Their parents and the rest of the siblings sat about the room. Raphine had been pacing the floor, her usual outlet, when her sister drove her to a halt. The anger that had been building up inside her rushed out like the breeze leaving a sail, replaced by remorse.  She had been keeping a secret, a big secret, from the one person she had promised she would tell everything. “We were never sure Nephi. We didn’t want to put the rest of you in danger... if people knew I was force… sensitive... well..."

“ _We_? Father? Did you know?” Gahlan looked back, confused by her accusation.

“No. Not father…” Raphine glanced at her mother, who was biting her lip and wringing her wrists guiltily in response. It was their father's turn to be shocked.

“Dorina! Is this true?”

Groaning in exhaustion, the woman sat beside her husband, taking his weathered hands in hers. “Yes, my love. It is true. I knew about our daughter’s...  _gift_. But, you as well as I know a family with our status has many enemies and noticing a few irregular things was not enough to put the rest of our children in danger. I treated her the same as the rest, only providing extra combat training and meditation classes as a positive way to express her talents.”

“So that's how you always won at duels, you were cheating!” Her brother's outburst was met with silence until slowly, one by one, everyone had began to laugh, overcome with the ridiculousness of their situation. Even Raphine managed a wiry smile. Only Hanephi and her father did not join in.

“Do you know what this means?” Nephi sighed, her voice only a little louder than a whisper. They quieted down to all turn and face her. “They won't just take what they need and go anymore. We've given them a reason to be here. A reason to stay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a million years since I updated this... I love this story so much and I add to it all the time. I just hit a complete wall that I couldn't get over. Hopefully now I can take this where it needs to go! I hope you guys like it =[

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if there were any mistakes. I beta all my own work =/  
> Isan is a made up planet by the way. The rest of the SW related info I'll use is in the SW universe though. Chapter summaries all lyrics from Florence and the Machine's album Ceremonials.


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